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Guerrilla Sniper - Saiga 308
The Saiga Sniper
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First off, I want to address the question, or comment that will invariably arise after this article is concluded. The AK weapons market in the USA has always been typified by the frugality of the “make do” mentality, and the “if it ain’t broke” line of thinking. That is fine, but consider that while anyone with a surplus Moisin and delinked corrosive PKM ammo can probably make do, unless the object of the exercise is to get into the game spending as little as possible, why make do? There is nothing wrong with using what you have, but neither is there anything wrong with making what you have, or choose, work better, and more efficiently. If we took the same line of thinking as the common AK weapons community in the USA, we would still be travelling by stage coach, sending telegraphs, and pooping outdoors.
One improves what he has, first because he can, and second because making what exists better has always been a hallmark of the American way. And with those things in mind we undertook to optimize our in-house Saiga 308, aka “The Saiganov”.
As it was, the weapon worked fine and delivered reasonable accuracy for what it was. But there were some issues with it, specifically the handguard and the stock. Now I am all for using ComBloc accessories, but what if there is no eastern-bloc equivalent of what is needed. You then either do without, or you rework existing systems.
The handguard system on the Saiga is probably pretty good for hunting and sports, which is what the rifle was intended for, but as a marksman’s rifle it is not so good. It is attached only at one point…just at the front of the receiver, with only one screw. Until I added an oversized screw and poured almost an entire bottle of loctite on it, the thing would come loose after a couple of magazines. This of course changed zero and caused all manner of drama. Moreover, the front part of the handguard has no real attachment point creating problems for the entire front of the rifle. Add now the issues of adding a shooting sling and a bipod and this one part, the handguard, becomes a crucial weakness of the rifle.
I looked for a replacement part. There are a few, but sadly most accessories made for the Saiga system are basically reworked Airsoft parts. The Airsoft makers realized that those who shoot real guns will spend more than the airsoft crowd, and “Presto”, instant AK accessories. No thanks.
Then an Ultimak ACR2 handguard arrived at One Source for a different project. I looked at it and it seemed to be the same size as what the Saiga needed. I decided to try for a fit. Although the ACR2 is not designed for the Saiga rifle, it fit perfectly as if it was made for the weapon. I had to get new and longer screws for the front end clamp due to the Saiga 308’s thicker barrel, but that was a $0.75 fix. What this gave me was a very secure fitting handguard that would not shoot loose like the stock unit, and that now gave me the real possibility of adding a bipod when needed and adding robust sling swivels. The addition of low profile rail covers finished off the handguard system.
Another area that I had issues with was the stock. I originally had an ACE folder, which while acceptable for a CQB weapon, left much to be desired for what was supposed to be a marksman’s system. Later we switched out to the Choate stock which was better and looked very “dragunov-ish”, but still was less than what was needed. The issue is simply that this rifle is not fired from standing only. The sniper needs to fire, if possible, from some supported position. Prone is preferred, but often he will also be using sitting or kneeling or something similar. One single length of pull will not yield the best results from each of these.
Remember we are not looking to make do with a Salvation Army rifle, rather to optimize the system as much as possible. I needed a solid unmoving stock that gave me an adjustable LOP. Again, the existing Saiga accessories were found unsuitable. Still needing to fix the issue, I looked at the Vltor AK-47 stock interface unit.
Installing this was not an issue, quite easy as a matter of fact. More importantly it gave me the necessary potential for LOP adjustments when I added the stock. The aluminum Vltor is head and shoulder above the Tapco and other similar plastic units. The stock is a crucial part of the rifle and being a cheapskate will not yield good results. The stock unit I chose was the Magpul CTR. First because it had an easy to adjust system as well as an additional latch to lock the system down solid. Second because it had provision for adding a cheek piece (important for eye/face positioning). And finally because it did not look like an M4 part.
This stock system in IMHO, the best option for an AK sniper, and I wish I could install one on my PSL as well.
Now I have a solid problem-free handguard and an adjustable stock to fit any shooting position needed.
I used a standard AK pistol grip, but I plan to add the US Palm pistol grip as it is both thicker and positions my trigger finger better than the small ComBloc design.
The other addition to the rifle already on board were the Bulgarian flash hider unit (that also gave provision for a Red Jacket Suppressor), a Red Star Arms trigger kit, a VEPR scope mount, Burris Rings, and a Burris 3-9x42 scope.
The suppressor is a very nice to have item for those living in places where they are available. What this does for you is mask your sound signature to the degree where your location is not easily detected. It is not “Hollywood quiet”, but quiet enough that I do not need to use hearing protection outdoors. It also does a great job of masking flash and blast, which is notable form a 16” barrel, even with a flash hider.
The other two additions were a Harris Bipod using an American Defense Manufacturing bipod mount. This bipod/mount combination allows me to deploy the bipod when needed but leave it off the rifle for most of the time. As well, it allows me to use the same bipod on the PSL, which we will write about soon.
Along with the ADM Bipod mount, I used two Daniel Defense sling swivel units on the bottom rail to mount the sling. These are far stronger than the original Uncle Mike’s QD swivel heads I was using. Finally we added a good solid shooting sling – the guerrilla sniper sling from Andy’s Leather.
For those interested, I am considering grouping these items as a kit for sale at OST. Other than the inital conversion back to combat rifle and the front sight base, all of this can be done on your garage table.
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CTR/MOE 0.50" Cheek Riser
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